Hirohisa Naito

Dialog interface system

In the dialog interface apparatus of the present invention, input speech is converted to an input semantic representation by a speech recognition unit, and a dialog management unit outputs an output semantic representation that corresponds to the input semantic representation, based on the input semantic representation obtained by the speech recognition unit. Having received the output semantic representation from the dialog management unit, a speech synthesis unit converts the output semantic representation to output speech identifying a specific dialog target and outputs the output speech. Further, the dialog management unit outputs to an innate operation execution unit an innate operation command that corresponds to the input semantic representation. The innate operation execution unit receives the innate operation command from the dialog management unit and executes an operation corresponding to the innate operation command.

Personal location agent for communicating entities (PLACE)

Abstract Traditionally, location systems have been built bottom-up beginning with low-level sensors and adding layers up to high-level context. Consequently, they have focused on a single location–detection technology. With sharing of user location in mind, we created Personal Location Agent for Communicating Entities (PLACE), an infrastructure that incorporates multiple location technologies for the purpose of establishing user location with better coverage, at varying granularities, and with better accuracy. PLACE supports sensor fusion and access control using a common versatile language to describe user locations in a common universe. Its design provides an alternative approach to location systems and insight into the general problem of sharing user location information.

Personal Location Agent for Communicating Entities (PLACE)

Traditionally, location systems have been built bottom-up beginning with low-level sensors and adding layers up to high-level context. Consequently, they have focused on a single location-detection technology. With sharing of user location in mind, we created Personal Location Agent for Communicating Entities (PLACE), an infrastructure that incorporates multiple location technologies for the purpose of establishing user location with better coverage, at varying granularities, and with better accuracy. PLACE supports sensor fusion and access control using a common versatile language to describe user locations in a common universe. Its design provides an alternative approach towards location systems and insight into the general problem of sharing user location information.

Exploring Everyday Activities for Pervasive Decision-Aid

In this paper, we explain the process of establishing shoppers activity-models based on a series of user-researches as the basis of pervasive systems for a supermarket. Pervasive systems have been recognized as the technologies which enable users decision-aid in his/her everyday-activities. For instance, a smart travel navigation system, which employs embedded and wearable devices and mobile agent technologies, was proposed as a promising information system for the society: it renders complex tasks into simple subtasks including providing adequate information regarding transit to the other train at an arbitrary station for visually-impaired person. Few researches on analysis of users everyday-activities for the systems design, however, have been conducted. We believe important to examine users everyday-activities as well as to develop elemental technologies of pervasive systems simultaneously, which will become a powerful way of solving a variety of real-world problems. An important knowledge regarding the model is that a shopper gradually elaborates vague plans primarily conceived at off the store into final decision-making at checkouts, instead of buying items according to well-defined plan as well as just on impulse. We regarded that the system dynamically adapting to these shoppers contexts is very different from other shoppers decision-aid systems